Disbanded
by Ascoeur
Summary: The young musicians are faced with the burdensome task of keeping the light music club from shutting down as well as struggle with feelings of unfamiliar affection concerning some of their fellow band members. Will they be able to handle both challenges?
1. Chapter 1

"See that up there, Mio?" Ritsu asked, directing a finger at the night sky. "That's our star."

"Actually," Mio began, "that star is called Marianaluke."

"Let's not bring constellations into this," Ritsu said, waving her friend's knowledgeable comment off.

"If you studied, you'd know that's not a constellation," Mio replied, feeling slight hopelessness concerning her friend. "A foreign guy named Luke bought that for his wife Mariana back in 2004. It's legally theirs."

"Well, I called dibs on it back in 2001!" Ritsu argued with a pout.

"Need I remind you we were just kids?" Mio questioned in monotone.

The ever energetic Ritsu had invited her slightly more reserved friend Mio over to her house for a study session, and after relentless hours of pleading on Ritsu's behalf, the submissive girl finally agreed on going. The two diligently studied the subject in matter, snacking and occasionally chatting as they did. After a while, their conversation led some things to others and Ritsu suggested they go up to the roof to stargaze.

"I'm thinking we should sue them," Ritsu huffed with folded arms.

"I think that would be overdoing it, Ritsu," Mio opinioned with a sigh.

Ritsu suddenly sprang up and balled up a fist which she lifted to the dark sky. "I'll get us back that star for sure, Mio, you'll see!"

Mio inadvertently blushed, only capable of viewing the back of Ritsu's head at the moment. "I-Idiot, what are you saying…"

"I'll name it after our band," Ritsu declared with enthusiasm. "So that when we make it to Budokan, we'll be able to say that we always knew we were going to be stars!"

No pun intended.

"Oh, ha ha," Mio let out a wavering, if not slightly disappointed, chuckle. "So _that's _what you meant."

"Hmm?" Ritsu turned and squatted down beside Mio, closer to the girl's face. "What did you think I meant?"

"N-never mind that"—Mio pointed a finger beyond Ritsu's shoulder—"L-look, a shooting star."

"He, I'm not that stupid, Mio-chyan~" Ritsu said in a sing-song tone as she grinned mischievously. "Now tell me what you said!"

Somewhere in the distance the girls heard a "Mommy, look, a shooting star!"coming from an unidentified little boy.

Ritsu instantly whipped around but only managed to catch the bright trail the meteor left behind.

"I can't believe I'm that stupid!" Ritsu dejectedly scolded herself. "We could have made a wish and gotten to Budokan even quicker!"

Mio rose from her lying position and shook off anything that might have stuck to her skirt and the rest of her clothing while she was stargazing. She consoled Ritsu and told her that hard work wouldn't mean anything if they obtained everything the easy way. Subsequently, she suggested they go back to Ritsu's room and finish studying for upcoming exams, to which Ritsu agreed.

"Ah, Ritsu…," Mio softly called to her friend, halting her by the sleeve.

"Yeah?" responded Ritsu with an air of perplexity to her. "What is it?"

"C-could you help me down the roof?" the girl timidly asked. "I-I'm sort of afraid of heights."

Mio was unable to clearly perceive Ritsu's expression after relaying her request, but when Ritsu replied with a kind "Sure" and took her by the hand, it all seemed somewhat surreal. Maybe the moon was playing tricks on her. After the girls arrived at Ritsu's room, they realized it was extremely late at night and postponed their studying until lunch the following day, to which Ritsu didn't complain.

~ \o/ ~ \o/~\o/~

"Big trouble, big trouble, everyone!" exclaimed Tsumugi in urgency as she entered the club room, holding a paper in her hand.

Ritsu and Yui were pleasantly snacking on some cookies and sipping some tea before Tsumugi came in. Mio was running a little late due to some unknown matters and Azusa was tuning her guitar. The blonde anxiously ran in panting and gave the president of the light music club the notice she was holding in her hand. Ritsu only skimmed through it.

"A club evaluation…?" Ritsu said to herself, arching an eyebrow. "Oh… ahahaha, don't worry, Mugi. I got it all covered!"

"You say that, Ricchan, but you really _have _no idea what a club evaluation is, do you?" Yui said with an innocent smile.

_W-was I seen through? _A mortified Ristsu wondered. "W-well, yeah, I'm not sure what it is, but it's not like our club is going to be shut down, right?"

"Actually, if the evaluation doesn't go well, we _will_ be shut down," Tsumugi informed with a little awkwardness.

_Why is the universe trying to prove me wrong lately!? _Ritsu thought. "Well, when is it going to be held?"

Azusa approached the girls at the dining table and took the paper from Ritsu's hands. "It says right here that it'll be held next week, during the school's two-week break."

"Aww, during the break?" Ritsu complained, lazily slumping forward on the table. "I don't wanna~"

"Well, too bad, Miss President," Mio, who had been present the moment Tsumugi mentioned the possibility of the club shutting down, resolutely announced, closing the door behind her.

"Mio, you want to be the president for a day?" Ritsu offered with a tinge of hope.

Azusa handed the paper to her sempai and Mio began to read it thoroughly. "Actually, that wouldn't do you any good. It says right here that all the members, as well as our advisor, have to be present and our clubroom has to be in order."

"So we'll have to clean the clubroom?" Tsumugi asked.

"Apparently so," Mio said, setting the paper down on the table.

Yui was about to raise her hand when Mio stopped her with a "And no, Yui, you can't bring your sister to pass off as you and do the cleaning instead," which caused the embarrassed girl to quickly bring her hand back down.

"But how did you exactly obtain this form, Mugi-sempai?" Azusa questioned.

"I happened to run into Nodoka-san, who was on her way here to give this to us," Tsumugi explained. "Since I was heading here, I offered to take it in her stead."

"Well, it's no biggie," Ritsu concluded, carelessly leaning back on her chair. "We just have to gather everyone here on club evaluation day and pass the thing."

"That's the problem, Ricchan," Tsumugi informed ruefully. "I'm going overseas for the break so I won't be able to make it in time."

"What!" Ritsu cried out, jumping to where Tsumugi stood and grasping both of her hands. "H-how come _you _get to go overseas and I don't!?"

_Like, that's not what we should be focusing on here, _Mio thought, aggravated.

"Um… since Mugi-chan's already told you about her trip, I guess I should tell you about mine," Yui said from somewhere in the distant background.

Ritsu turned around immediately and pulled Yui's collar. "What—you, too!?"

The airheaded musician nodded and barely managed to choke out a "W-we're going on a family trip…"

Azusa raised her hand and added, "Oh, and since Ui-chan's my friend, she invited me along with them."

"What part of _**family trip**_ did you not understand, Azusa!" Ritsu demanded in her frustration, and then dejectedly retired to sulk at some corner of the room.

"It seems Ricchan is devastated," Yui noted, bringing a finger up to her bottom lip. "Are you going anywhere, Mio-chan?"

"Hmm?" Mio casually turned to Yui. "Not really. My family's trying to save up money for other things."

Ritsu rapidly crawled back to Mio's side and draped an arm around her neck. "It's good to know that at least one of my friends isn't a traitor, unlike you, infidels!"

_Wait… Does this mean I don't have a life? _Mio helplessly wondered, and then it was her turn to sulk at some corner of the room.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Azusa inquired, finally taking off her guitar and placing it close to a stereo. "If we're not all here, then they'll shut our club down."

Everyone pondered over the matter for a fair amount of minutes as Mio continued to dwell in her new-found misery.

"Yui," Ritsu called, snapping the girl back to reality as she had been daydreaming of sweets for a while when she couldn't come up with a solution for their dilemma. "Do you know if Nodoka-san is going anywhere during the break?"

"I don't think so," Yui daftly responded in ignorance. "Why?"

"It's time to go substitute hunting…"

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

"I kindly refuse," blatantly responded Nodoka.

There wasn't anything kind about the way she said it.

Ritsu and the rest of the gang had gone to the student council room, which was the place Nodoka would most likely currently be in during after-school hours. Ritsu had explained to the club members of the light music club that they needed to gather three temporary substitutes to replace Yui, Tsumugi, and Asuza on club evaluation day. Yui cried and begged Ritsu not to replace her, for she had so many plans for the club, so many things to do and tell the others, and just before Yui began a painfully long speech about why they shouldn't kick her out of the club, Ritsu reminded her that it was only _temporary. _

"You see," Nodoka began, standing at the threshold of the student council clubroom, "I have to be here as a student council member on club evaluation day. Not to mention, as the president of Mio-chan's fanclub, as well."

"Uh… Why—"

"Don't ask," Nodoka quickly intervened, not wanting to recall the day in which the former student council president left Mio's fanclub in her capable hands.

"So is there really no way to get around this?" Ritsu asked gloomily.

"I'm sorry," Nodoka sincerely apologized. "I just don't think this is going to work out."

"Just give us a chance!" Ritsu pleaded.

"Uh…Why does this look like some sort of lovers' quarrel?" Azusa queried with a deadpan expression.

"I'm not quite sure, but it's beautiful either way," Tsumugi dreamily replied, allowing both of her hands to cup her now rosy cheeks.

After Nodoka had been called back into the student council room, Ritsu and the others retired and headed for their own clubroom. Ritsu mostly kept to herself the remaining time they had left in the club, and the other members took care of the dishes while others listened to music. After a while, they realized they'd forgotten to practice for the day, so they sought their instruments out and began to play.

"Argh!" Ritsu loudly groaned in frustration, her voice bouncing off the room's adjacent walls and producing an inevitable echo. "Stughiri paffevalu anny oqtfairt heffdalovegds ogthe faj—"

"Why are you shouting gibberish!?" Mio demanded, already beside the drummer and with her palm blocking the hole Ritsu had for a mouth.

"It's a relaxation technique," Ritsu explained, removing Mio's hand by tickling it with her tongue.

_In what world!? _Mio thought bitterly with a grimace, her hand still uncomfortably tingling due to Ritsu's earlier action.

"Does it really help, Ricchan?" Yui questioned in wonder.

"It helps clear your mind," Ritsu affirmed. "You guys should try it!"

"We're not in the choir, Ritsu," Mio stated after regaining her composure. "Plus, where are we going to get by shouting out nonsensical stuff?"

"I don't know," the girl with the headband mumbled, suddenly down. "I really can't think of anything other than finding substitutes."

"After being rejected by Nodoka-sempai, it must be really hard," Azusa added.

"But she had other things to worry about, so I suppose it's not her fault," the ever-so-calm ojou-sama opinioned.

"I tried and said everything I could think of, but she just wouldn't budge," Ritsu sighed, massaging her temple.

_Why is it that our conversations can be so easily misunderstood? _Mio wondered, attempting to decipher the reason behind their double-meaning chats.

Yui glanced at the clock that hanged far at the other end of the practice area. "It's pretty late, everyone. Should we call it a day?"

The girls nodded and packed things up. The dishes were done, the room was clean, and all five of them were ready to leave. As they ambled out of the clubroom, they once again began a short discussion concerning the substitutes. They decided they would put up flyers the following day, just to advertise…help. Mio would come up with the design, Yui and Azusa would color it, Tsumugi would print-out professional-looking copies of it, and Ritsu would supervise everything, which everyone at first opposed since she didn't really do anything, but then they began to speculate the various ways Ritsu could ruin the whole process and eventually allowed her to be the supervisor. At least Yui could color within the lines.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

Later that evening, Ritsu phoned up her ebony haired friend and asked her how her designs were going. Mio was a little embarrassed to depict the structure of her design because she thought Ritsu would criticize or laugh at it, like she does with her songs. Ritsu promised she wouldn't do any of the two as long as she told her what the flyer would look like.

"Aha ha ha ha ha ha," Ritsu guffawed uncontrollably on the other side of the phone. "Bunnies? Why would you draw bunnies on our flyer? I get birds, but _bunnies_? Mio, you crack me up!"

"T-this is exactly _why _I didn't want to tell you," Mio muttered over the phone. "And you promised..."

"Nah, I was just kidding," Ritsu admitted. "I really like your idea for the flyer."

"Y-you do?"

"Yup," Ritsu assured. "With it, we'll _hop _to the _top_! Get it? Ha ha ha!"

The other end of the line was dead. Mio had hung up.

_Where's her sense of humor? _

Ritsu redialed Mio's number once again and tried to connect with her, but said girl wouldn't pick up the cell phone no matter how many times it rang. Ritsu sighed and resorted to texting her overly sensitive friend. Mio stared at her flyer with disdain. After what her childhood friend had said, maybe it _was _trash. She was about to throw the useless paper away when her phone began to vibrate. Mio set the paper aside, leaving the task of discarding it for a later time. The text was from Ritsu.

**Remember our star? **

Mio pursed her lips and texted a reply.

**Yeah. What about it?**

It didn't take long for Ritsu to text her friend back.

**It'll have to wait. Right now we've got to save our club. **

A smile threatened to form upon Mio's lips as she texted a response.

**I know that.**

Ritsu wasn't very fond of getting emotional and saying stuff that was totally out of character for her, but she thought she might as well.

**So… work hard on that flyer, okay? It's pretty good so far.**

Mio smirked as she texted the following:

**I will. So are you done with tonight's homework yet?**

Ritsu cringed in place.

**No. Help?**

Mio retrieved the flyer she was not too long ago set on discarding and texted her friend back before turning off her phone.

**Sorry ;p**

Ritsu's reply never reached Mio, but it was stored in her _sent _folder.

**; A ;**


	2. Chapter 2

"Ah, you're here," Ritsu said as Mio accessed the clubroom. "Got the designs?"

"Yes," Mio affirmed, gently shutting the door behind her. "But I want to show it to Mugi first."

_Maybe she'll be a little nicer about it, _Mio finished in thought, pressing the flyer to her chest.

Ritsu shrugged. "Okay."

It was Friday morning and the girls had all agreed to gather at the clubroom one hour before school began so that they would have enough time to make sufficient copies of Mio's flyer and post a few of them up to begin advertising for the "temporary member" recruiting. They would put the rest of them up throughout the school day and meet back at the clubroom after school.

Tsumugi took the flyer from the shy, ebony haired girl. While the well-mannered Oujo-sama looked over her work, Mio decided to perform a quick scan of the room. Azusa was helping Yui complete some homework, even though she was just a first year. Ritsu was lazily leaning back on her chair, the usual snack and tea cups set before her atop the table, and eyeing Mio with a bit of discomfort.

"Wha'cha looking at me for?" Ritsu blurted out in inquiry.

"No particular reason," Mio responded truthfully, turning to back to Mugi to see how far she'd gotten.

"Your design is quite remarkable, Mio-chan," Tsumugi praised. "I especially liked the bunnies you added in there."

Mio sneered at Ritsu, who in response stuck her tongue out at her. Mio had proved to Ritsu that someone actually liked her design.

"So, we should get Azusa and Yui to color it now, right?" Mio asked.

"That was the plan, yes," Tsumugi recalled, nodding in assent.

Mio and Ritsu would practice some songs they would later play in an upcoming school festival while Tsumugi provided Azusa and Yui some snacks and tea as they colored so they would get energized. Tsumugi would occasionally stop to listen to Mio's and Ritsu's playing. She noticed that the two couldn't be any more out of sync, and wondered how this was possible, considering they were such good friends. After a while, Azusa handed Tsumugi the flyer she and her sempai colored, for Yui had already fallen asleep on the dining table, some drool noticeably dripping from her mouth.

Tsumugi soon after headed out and in search of a scanner, she had brought enough money to make more than a hundred copies, which they would then excruciatingly have to take down once the break began. Though, as long as it helped her friends, she wouldn't mind investing her money in such a way.

"You put a contact number there, right, Mio?" Ritsu asked, just to make sure.

"Yes," the girl in question responded. "And our clubroom number, and our names, and our advisor's name, and—"

"Gee, what else? Our home addresses?" Ritsu sarcastically added.

"…yeah."

"YOU DID!?"

"Was that too much?" Mio queried sheepishly.

"Ha ha ha, it's fine, it's fine," Ritsu reassured with a wave of her hand. "As the club president, I forgive you. But if I get some stalker guy beginning to follow me around, I'll blame you."

"Hey, _I'm_ the one that has a fanclub," Mio quickly snapped.

"Well, you endangered your own self," Ritsu noted stubbornly.

The girls continued to argue with one another, but both wore lively, half smiles on their faces.

"I want a friend whom I can have fights with, too," muttered Yui wistfully with a pout after waking up with all the ruckus Mio and Ritsu had incited.

_It depends on what kind of fights, Yui-sempai, _Azusa immediately thought.

"Azu-nyan, let's wrestle!" Yui enthusiastically suggested, bringing her hands together in a clap.

"H-hey, look, sempai"—Azusa shouted as she pointed to the door to create some sort of diversion—"Mugi-sempai's back!"

Tsumugi returned with a stack of papers covering almost her entire view and staggered over to the club's dining table, placing the heavy load there. The club members wondered how she pulled such stunt off with indisputable fright. Tsumugi had peculiarities of her own and was someone whom one should not underestimate. Ritsu quickly left her drumming set, as did Mio with her bass, and headed in Tsumugi's direction to check out the flyers.

"Hey, these are pretty cool," Ritsu commented. "The bunnies don't look out of place at all."

"Of course not, Ricchan," said Yui with an air of odd vainness to her. "It was because I colored them in such a way that everything blends in." She nodded to herself proudly.

"If I remember correctly, Sempai," Azusa quickly added, "you did that coloring right after you said that you were tired and just wanted to get this over with."

_Why can't anyone ever let me have a moment? _Yui thought gloomily with glistening tears welling in her eyes.

"Well, then, should we begin posting them up?" Tsumugi said.

"Yeah," Ritsu acceded, glancing at the clubroom clock. "We have about thirty minutes before school begins."

"Well, we have to split up so that we can cover more ground," Azusa noted.

"I'll take over the cafeteria!" Yui chirped with glee, jumping up and down.

"Then allow me to take the school's right wing hallways," Tsumugi said, pointing to the right.

"I'll do the left wing," Azusa said, directing to her left.

"I'll work on the sports areas," Ritsu declared energetically.

"And I'll take over the library," Mio stated. "Well, we're all set to go so… let's go!"

~\o/~\o/~\o/~\o/~\o/~\o/~

Mio ambled to the library; she knew that there really was no hurry since they'd be posting them throughout the day, anyhow, so she took her time. As she passed the shoe lockers section, she caught a glimpse of white paper conspicuously sticking out of her own locker and made her way over, picking up her pace. She gently slid out what appeared to be a letter and arched an eyebrow as she read it.

Nodoka entered the building and began to take off her street shoes to store in her locker when she noticed Mio.

"Good morning, Akiyama-san," she greeted casually, placing her street shoes in the locker and taking the school ones out. "What have you got there?"

Mio brought her eyes back to the letter and jumped. She began to fidget around with it and think of the appropriate way of explaining it to the girl that had just arrived.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," Nodoka finally said, seeing how embarrassed and nervous Mio had suddenly grown. "I shouldn't meddle."

"N-no, it's nothing important," Mio assured, waving her hand frantically in negation, "just a love letter… is all."

"Well, it depends on the person whether they regard something like that as important or not, I suppose," Nodoka said. She then further approached Mio and scrutinized the letter.

Nodoka dejectedly frowned and subsequently sighed after reading the name of the sender at the end.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~\o/~

School was about to begin and everyone had finished at least _part _of their appointed areas. Azusa and Tsumugi had managed to get a head start on the job since their designated hallways were near the starting point. Poor, unfortunate Yui got lost on her way to the cafeteria and locked herself out of school while trying to find it, which disabled her from posting any flyers and mostly impelled her to cry in self-consolation. Soon, though, some kind guy found her and told her that she needed to _pull_ the door to enter, not push. Ritsu had rapidly run up and down the gym's shiny, slippery floor, aligning an abundance of flyers on the same wall. By the time she left the gym to cover more sports areas, she realized she had run out of flyers and decided to go to class early.

The school bell rang and there wasn't any more time left for the girls to return to the clubroom, so they just postponed the task of "meeting up" for when school was over.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

It was first period, and Yui had class with Nodoka, since they had chosen the same elective: art. The teacher wrote the assignment on the board and left it there for the students to work on. It wasn't anything difficult or intricate in any way, just free drawing.

"Nodoka-chan, what are you going to draw?" Yui asked, hoping to collect some ideas for her own piece.

"I'm not sure," she responded. "I usually begin with some meaningless lines and the art just takes off from there."

_Whoa, Nodoka-chan's a born genius, _Yui thought. "That's pretty amazing!"

"I bet you're going to draw food or the like," Nodoka said with a laugh.

_Is she a mind reader, too!?_

"Don't worry, you're just very predictable," Nodoka assured, seeing how startled Yui appeared.

As Nodoka laughed at her childhood friend's naivety, Yui overheard some girls' conversation in the back.

"Have you noticed that she's gotten a ring?" one of them said.

"Yeah, I think she may have been tied down, if you know what I mean," the other added.

"By whom? Her parents?" another commented.

"No way, I mean by a _boy,_" the other one clarified.

"But it could just be a purity ring," some girl that joined in to the conversation said.

"Well, all I know is that everyone in the school is freaking out over it," a voice farther in the distance stated.

The girls continued to gossip about the topic, and Yui found herself becaming engrossed in it, too, which was rare since she only thought about sweets and food. She continued to pay heed to the discussion until Nodoka brought her back to the present.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Nodoka-chan," Yui began, turning to her friend, "what's a purity ring?"

Nodoka's eye twitched.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~\o/~

The bell tolled and indicated the end of first period and the beginning of the second. Tsumugi made her way to her next class, which took place in the library. Tsumugi maintained an unhurried pace as she headed to her class, contemplating the sight of other students hurrying to their current period's room. When she finally arrived at the entrance, she realized she was the first one to get there. She left her school bag and books on the table and walked over to the book stands to pass the time as she waited for the rest of the class to arrive.

She noticed, as she roamed the library, that the place had no flyers advertising the light music club's temporary member recruiting. Tsumugi wondered if Mio was able to reach her destination in time to complete the posting of the flyers.

After a few minutes, involuntarily loud murmurs emanated from the library's main area, indicating the arrival of the late comers. Tsumugi was reading a book on the "different kinds of love" when she overheard some girls from her class speaking on the other side of the stand.

"Hey, did you see the ring she was wearing?" one of them commented.

"Yeah, I have," the other said in a despairing tone. "I bet she's taken…"

"W-well, maybe it's just the fashion?" another said. "I think I read it in a magazien somewhere..."

"Where was it again? Her left hand?"

"But it should go on the right, right?" another said. "If it's not on the right then maybe it's not official."

"But she's a lefty, and we don't know _where_ they wear them."

"I'm so jealous," the first one said. "I'm going out with someone and haven't been given a ring yet."

At that moment, the teacher intervened and kindly told them to return and take a seat somewhere in the library and keep their voices down. Tsumugi was also spotted and told to sit down, which she obediently complied to.

_My, I only know _one _left-handed person in this school, _Tsumugi thought. _I wonder…_

"Class, today we're going to learn how to operate the school's online library," the teacher announced. "Take a computer, please."

_If it is… and certain person hears about it… then things are bound to get juicy, he he, _Tsumugi thought mischievously, hiding a naughty grin behind her respective computer.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~\o/~

The bell rang once again and signaled the start of lunch.

Azusa, Ui, and Jun ate lunch together, as they were accustomed to doing. Azusa had brought some bread rolls, Ui some stewed bean dishes, and Jun a piece of fried fish. The girls joined their tables and chattered as they ate.

"Azusa, you almost always bring bread rolls," Jun commented. "Why's that?

"I don't really have time in the mornings to prepare anything else, so I just bring these."

"I always prepare the food the night before," Ui said. "It helps, since I make onee-chan's lunch, too."

"Yui-sempai is fortunate to have a sister like you," Azusa said. _Otherwise, I'm not sure how she'd survive._

"Hey, have you guys heard the rumor going around school recently?" Jun said, suddenly becoming a little more cautious and watchful of the students in the classroom.

The other two girls grew incredibly wary as well. "No, what is it?"

"Well," she began, "they say Mio-sempai has gotten a boyfriend."

"MIO-SEMPAI HAS A BOY—!"

"Shh!"

Jun and Ui slapped Azusa's mouth shut and brought her back down to her chair. Other students began to grow suspicious and eyed them with a side-glance to keep them in check.

"It's just a rumor," Jun continued, "so nobody knows for sure yet."

Azusa sighed in relief. "You got me scared for a minute there. But why do people think Mio-sempai has a boyfriend?"

"Because," Jun said, getting closer to Azusa, "she's wearing a fancy ring on her left hand. We all know what that means."

"SHE'S ENGA—!?"

The girls pulled Azusa back down again and silenced her. "No, she's not engaged. It just means she's going out with someone!"

"It could also be a purity ring…?" Ui opinioned.

There was silence, and the three inadvertently broke out in laughter.

"Yeah, right, as if!" they said with disbelief, and subsequently crossed out that possibility.

The girls resumed eating their meals.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~\o/~

The last two periods of the day were no quick trips, for with the excitement of Akiyama Mio's rumored boyfriend, no one could keep from talking about it. In fact, it only made it harder for students to concentrate on their teachers' lectures and school work.

When school was finally over, the members of the light music club hurried to the clubroom with anxiety, already mentally reviewing some of questions they were thinking of asking the now seemingly unavailable Mio. Yui was the second member to arrive, after Ritsu, dragging in with her an air of carelessness and a laid back breeze.

"Yahoo, Ricchan!" she greeted, raising up a cheerful arm and slumping down on a nearby couch. "You're always here first. Why's that?

"I'm the president, and I don't tolerate tardiness, even from myself," Ritsu declared with pride. "Plus, my classroom is sort of close so might as well."

Yui jumped off the couch and checked what the clubroom's mini fridge had to offer her that day. "Oh, by the way, Ricchan, what is a purity ring?" she asked. "Nodoka-chan just kept quiet about it when I asked her…"

Tsumugi bumped her forehead on the door as she made her way into the room after hearing Yui's statement. "Ara, I'm sorry, I'm a little clumsy today."

Ritsu scratched the side of her face in a fidgety manner as Tsumugi set her school bag down on the dining table and fixed some things up. "W-well, it sort of like… um… prevents people from sleeping together! Yeah, that's it!"

Tsumugi knocked her head on the slim window. "Arara, I'm sorry, I just lost my balance…"

"So, then, if I wore a purity ring, I wouldn't be able to sleep with Ui-chan anymore?" Yui queried in dismay.

Mugi suddenly fell on the floor but just as quick rose to a standing position and dusted herself off. "Oh, don't mind me; I was just on my way to get the broom and tripped."

"Um… sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, sempais," Azusa monotonously excused herself as she entered the clubroom. "So, I guess you're also talking about Mio-sempai's ring?"

There was an awkward "crack" sound in the background, as if the harmonious setting of the clubroom had been unexpectedly disturbed, and the easygoing mood simply vanished.

~\O/~\O/~\O/~\O/~

Mio accessed the clubroom with heavy feet, displaying an exhausted demeanor. As she stepped in, her school bag hanging loosely from her shoulder, the first thing that came into her line of sight was Ritsu's back, with Ritsu herself contemplating the scenery out the window. Tsumugi was brooming the floor, Azusa reading a book, and Yui eating some sweets. The odd thing about the picture Mio was currently viewing was that every one of them had their backs turned on her.

"Um, sorry I'm late," Mio apologetically said, shutting the door behind her.

"You're late!" Ritsu chastised, whipping around to face her. Her features didn't particularly exhibit anger, only a tad of agitation.

"Yeah, I know I'm late, I just said it," Mio noted.

"But perfect timing, Mio-chan, we were just talking about how late you were," Yui said.

"Um, isn't it a little too late to say that, Yui-chan?" Tsumugi queried.

"Why are our sentences getting so repetitive as of late?" Azusa wondered aloud.

"Can we stop using the word _late _already?" Mio suggested, growing tired of the meaningless word play.

By now, everyone was facing the dark-haired beauty that had just arrived. Their gazes quickly darted down to Mio's left hand and just as fast returned to making eye contact with her. Sure enough, they caught a glimpe of the infamous ring she wore on her left hand. Ritsu frowned and her eyes squinted as she slowly rose from the chair she was occupying to amble over to where Mio stood.

"So, _Mio-chan_, my best friend, my voice of reason, my _never-keeps-secrets-from-me _buddy," Ritsu drawled. "Why were you late?

"I was busy," Mio responded without faltering.

"_Busy, _you say," Ritsu repeated. She draped an arm over Mio's shoulder and let it hang loosely. "Ha ha, we're all busy at times, huh? What were you busy doing?"

"I had to take care of some things at the library," Mio informed with a little uneasiness.

"And I'm guessing those things were a little more important than our club activities?" Ritsu continued, digging deeper into the matter. "I mean, you can just tell me… we're _best friends,_ right?"

"Okay, fine, I was finishing up posting my share of the flyers," Mio admitted with rosy cheeks, clearly embarrassed. "Now, care to tell me what the deal is with all this questioning?"

"Oh, nothing that should concern you… or your boyfriend," Ritsu responded with casualty, suddenly taking an interest in her hand and scrutinizing it as Mio allowed some time for her sentence to fully process in her mind.

"My what…?" Mio trailed off in astonishment.

_Oh, my, this is better than television, _Tsumugi thought, having left the broom lying at some corner of the room and taken a seat in the couch for a better view of the drama-movie-like events unfolding before her.

"You know what, Mio-chan," Tsumugi said innocently. "That ring basically suggests you have a boyfriend."

"Also," Yui added, " you can't sleep with anyone, anymore."

"It could also mean she's engaged, you know," Azusa explained, getting a little more in-depth.

"What? You guys never mentioned Mio getting married!" Ritsu exclaimed loudly, obviously irked.

Mio quietly watched as the musicians began a fierce argument with one another over what the ring's true implication was. Mio skeptically continued to observe their ridiculous exchange as she wondered just how stupider they could get. She sighed and stood between them, raising both her palms up to indicate a halt.

"First of all, let me clarify something," Mio said, hoping to assuage the commotion. "I don't have a boyfriend, and whoever told you that I did is substantially misinformed."

Azusa shrunk to a "chibi" in utter shame.

"Then what's the ring for?" Yui inquired.

"This?"—Mio said, raising her ring finger up—"Nodoka-san gave it to me."

~awkward silence~

Ritsu was the first to speak up. "Hmm, never thought she'd swing that way," she mused thoughtfully.

"So Nodoka-chan played for the _other _team, I see," Tsumugi said in a reserved manner, but obviously implying something.

"Congratulations, Mio-chan," Yui said with authentic gaiety for her friend.

"No, no, you're misunderstanding!" Mio quickly added with a furious blush and a frantic wave of her hand. "I mean, she gave it to me so that I could avoid bothersome people from asking me out."

By the perplexed looks and expressions she received in return, Mio figured she would have to get a little more in-depth.

"Well, you see," she began, "as I made my way to the library, I happened to find a note in my locker, which turned out to be a love letter, and then subsequently encountered Nodoka-san. I handed her the note to read, and she recognized the name of the sender—one of the members in my fanclub. She told me I would be getting more of these bothersome letters so she gave me a ring which would fake my unavailability so that I could continue to enjoy my high school life."

"That's pretty… clever," Azusa opinioned. "Nodoka-sempai is very bright! I would have never thought of that."

"Ha ha ha, so _that _was it," Ritsu said, chuckling at her previous cogitation, which turned out to be way off line. "You had me scared there for a second, Mio. I thought you'd gotten a boyfriend before I did."

Mio gazed at her friend with utter hopelessness. "How would I sneak my boyfriend into this school, anyway?"

"It's all good," Ritsu chirped. "Besides, if you did have one, I would have had to play the role of dad and see if this boy was fit for my Mio!"

Mio's cheeks grew hot and emitted a faint redness. "T-thanks, I guess."

_That was still great entertainment, _Tsumugi thought with pleasure, wiping dry some tears of satisfaction. "So, everyone, should we start working on posting the remaining flyers? Tomorrow is our last day."

Everyone sought consent from one another and nodded with liveliness.

- 0 *Thank you so much for the reviews, everyone, I promise to make this story AWESOME for you! Please tell me how I did. I'd appreciate it!* 0 -


	3. Chapter 3

"**In a club which was meant to be abolished, four girls with a dream set out to rescue it! Now, with a new member and history repeating itself once again after just a few years… **

**Hirasawa Yui!**

"_I wonder if hair needs water to grow…_

"**Nakano Azusa!**

"_Actually, I got all of my guitar skills from Guitar Hero._

"**Tainaka Ritsu!**

"_After I graduate, I'll take over the world with llamas! _

"**Kotobuki Tsumugi!**

"_If something were ever to happen to me, everyone, you are all cordially invited to my funeral in advance._

"**And Akiyama Mio!**

"_I didn't hear anything… I didn't see anything… I didn't hear anything… I didn't see anything…_

"**Will once more journey to the unknown depths of Sakuragaoka High and the many instructors and educators that will stand in the way of saving their precious club!**

"**Get ready for the action!**

"_Ricchan, I just heard the world will end in 2012!_

"_No way!_

"_Way!_

"**The incomparable suspense!**

"_Mio, since this is the end, there's something I've always wanted to tell you!_

"_Gasp!_

"**The off-the-chart revelations!**

"_It was me who ate the last cupcake in kindergarten!_

"_Shock!_

"**And the passionate romance!**

"_I love you, t—wait, so that was you!?_

"Dun dun DUM," Ritsu finalized with an onomatopoeia, stomping her right foot on the wooden floor with each _dun_. "Coming soon… So, what do you guys think of the trailer for our upcoming movie?"

Mio mercilessly flung a chalkboard eraser at Ritsu's forehead and the formerly animated girl fell backwards and off the chair she was just recently sitting upon.

"Who the heck's going to succumb to your stupid confession!?" Mio growled with a furious blush.

Ritsu, now with a red, rectangular mark on her forehead, rose from the hard floor and groaned, "Ouch… that was just fanservice, Mio." She picked up the eraser. "I'm sure everyone would die to see you professing your love to someone."

"So Ricchan wants to make a movie to advertise the light music club?" Yui recited to herself to allow the fresh news to sink into her mind. "To scout some temporary members… is that right?"

"But a trailer for a movie?" Tsumugi said with a little doubt. "That appears to be quite lengthy and time-consuming. And we would only have one day to work on it—today."

"Mugi-sempai has a point," Azusa opinioned. "Movies tend to take a really long time to fabricate—days, months, even years!"

"The point is: we can't accomplish it in a single day," Mio translated for Ritsu's seemingly feeble mind to comprehend.

"You guys are all so negative," Ritsu whined. "But, fine, even I know we can't take off with that idea. So, how else are we going to recruit people? I mean, no one came after we posted the flyers, and we've only got a day left of school before the break."

The five girls had once again gathered at the clubroom earlier than the usual, though now there were only a few minutes left before school began, since their conversation had lasted for a considerable amount of time. The gang rose from their places and began to pack things up to get ready to go to class. They hadn't gotten around to practicing that morning, either.

"We should get going," Mio said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "We've wasted enough time as it is."

Everyone nodded and followed as she turned the doorknob to leave the clubroom.

"Um, everyone, wait a minute!" Yui called out before one of the members could take a step out.

"What is it?" Ritsu inquired.

"Well, it's been a week since we've gotten the notice for club evaluation day but… has anyone told Sawa-chan-sensei about any of this?"

Ritsu confidently began,"Of course—uh…"

The girls stared at one another with apprehension.

"…Forgive and forget?"

Mio smacked Ritsu on the head again.

\o/~\o/~\o/~

"A…achoo!"

Yamanaka Sawako, the light music club's advisor and necessary key piece to the completion of a perfect club evaluation, wiped her nose with her sleeve, sniffling behind it.

"He he, someone's talking about me," she mused with a smirk. "I must be popular!"

She then returned to the task at hand, which was grading some students' essays.

_1 week later…_

Mio was anxiously brooming the clubroom's floor, flipping out over every dust bunny she encountered. Evaluation day had finally arrived and she couldn't allow any imperfections to be at display.

It had not been long since the other club members had left for their respective trips, probably about four days or less. They told Sawako about their predicament and the teacher subsequently broke down. Not because of the potentially catastrophic possibility of the light music club being shut down, but because she wasn't going anywhere for the school break and was stuck in the city like Mio and Ritsu; though Ritsu didn't get offended, since she could relate. After wrapping up the drama, Sawako agreed on attending the club evaluation. She had to, anyhow.

With the club only an hour away from the appointed inspection time, Mio restlessly awaited the arrival of the only available members in the club—Ritsu and, if applicable, Sawako.

"Good morning~" Sawako greeted as she accessed the room with a blithe and carefree mood.

"Good morning? _Good morning_!?" Mio repeated sharply. "Sawako-sensei, it's twelve o' clock in the afternoon! We all agreed to meet here at eleven since the evaluation would be at one!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," she muttered. "You sound just like my mother."

_Why does it feel like the roles have reversed, somehow?_ Mio thought skeptically, and then sighed. "I'm sorry for going off on you like that, sensei…."

"No worries," Sawako assured, waving it off. "I'm sure it's just that time of the month."

_No, like, your women's intuition is way off…_

"You know, you're lucky I'm an understanding adult," Sawako began knowingly. "_My _parents never cut _me _a break, I tell ya!"

"Is that so…?" Mio said, responding in order to be polite.

"Yeah, it was always 'Sawako do this… Sawako do that… Sawako you stay here….' Tch, it was a real pain in the..." the teacher kept raving on about how restricted her life had been while Mio glanced at the clock every now and then.

"Yahoo!" Ritsu had carelessly slammed the door open, startling both Mio and Sawako.

"Uagh! Ritsu!" Mio shrieked in horror, running over to the door and pushing the girl in question out of the way to see if the door and the wall it had hit were okay. She sighed once she confirmed the two to be untouched. "Geez, don't be so reckless."

Ritsu pouted and looked the other way. "Mio still hasn't greeted me… especially now that you're wearing that maid outfit."

Mio's eyes instantly examined her figure and she inadvertently blushed after spotting the garment Ritsu was referring to.

"I-it's not a maid outfit, just an apron. I-I figured I'd use it since the clubroom needed a thorough cleaning," she explained as she clumsily untied her apron and stuffed it in a nearby closet. "Besides, you seriously need to take time into consideration. You're so late!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ritsu said, leaving the topic at that. "Anyhow, I just saw the lady that's going to be evaluating us. She's a very uptight and strict woman."

"Don't ignore the issue here," Mio chastised. "And is she that bad?"

"I'm not ignoring it," Ritsu said. "And yeah, she looks scary!"

"But you were ignoring it just then," Mio pointed out. "And can you rate her on a scale of one to ten?"

"Okay, fine, I was," Ritsu gave in. "And I'd give her a nine."

_It's amazing how they can handle two topics at once, _Sawako thought in disbelieving awe.

"Mou, what are we going to do!" Mio cried. "She'll be here any minute now and I only have the unreliable you."

"I am too reliable!" Ritsu countered. "L-like that time when I… uh… you know!"

"Don't argue with me," Mio said, raising one hand.

"You two remind me of the fights I used to have with my boyfriend," Sawako interrupted. "Which reminds me: my parents never even knew about him! They never allowed me to date or go anywhere!"

The two girls had long since stopped their argument and only stared at each other awkwardly.

"Oh, speaking of relationships," Sawako said. "When are you two planning to get married?"

O_O…

"W-w-who'd get married to _her_!?" Mio stuttered out with a hot, crimson face.

"Y-yeah," Ritsu immediately agreed, scratching the side of her face. "I mean, she's so not my type."

Mio's eye twitched ominously. "What? I'm not good enough for you?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Well," Ritsu began, "you're kind of bossy."

"Bossy!?" repeated Mio with indignation. "You're such a bigmouth!"

"Crybaby!"

"Lazy!"

"Poo-poo head!"

"Fish brain!"

"GIRLS!" Sawako shouted, getting them to stop. "I was talking about what age you two were planning to get married, not if you wanted to get married to _each other_!"

Mio and Ritsu let the sentence sink and they both lowered their heads in shame and embarrassment.

"Now," Sawako rose from the couch she was sitting upon and grabbed the hands of the two girls, pulling them closer, "apologize to one another."

"I'm not a kid," Ritsu mumbled, shaking her hand loose. "But… sorry, Mio."

Mio cleared her throat. "I-I'm sorry, too."

"Now you guys need to quiet the heck down because you're making my hangover even worse," Sawako demanded as she headed towards the couch once again.

Mio began, "Sawako-sensei, you don't mean… you're drunk!?"

"So _that's _why she was rambling on about weird things," Ritsu figured.

"No!" Sawako immediately denied. "That was yesterday... now I just have a terrible headache."

"Why did you do something like that on the day before the evaluation?" Mio questioned helplessly.

"A gurl's gat too have fan, righ?" Sawako responded clumsily.

Ritsu ran over to the teacher's aid. "It's no good, her speech's becoming slurred."

"Q-quick, get her some water," Mio ordered with urgency.

Right then, three knocks emanated from the other side of the door.

\o/~\o/~\o/~

"Welcome to the light music club," Mio said pleasantly as she opened the door and allowed the evaluator to enter.

The woman walked a fair distance inside and stopped to stand at the center of the room, scrutinizing the place. She gave off a "business" kind of air with her gray, knee-long skirt and white blouse. She held a paper in her hand. Mio gulped and nervously glanced at Ritsu, who was standing by the closet, where they had locked their advisor in.

"Is everything to your liking, Miss?" Mio queried, being a good host.

The lady's gaze pierced Mio's own, making the girl tremble on the inside. "Yes, but"—she raised the hand which held the paper and skimmed through it—"it says right here that you have five members in this club, but I only see two."

"Well, they're in the restroom," Mio informed with a calm demeanor.

"They're _all_ in the restroom?" the woman asked skeptically.

"Yes, they are."

"Even your advi—?"

"Even her," Mio replied with a winning smile and a flowery background.

"Well, then, I suppose we should wait—"

"Let's not," Mio suggested, guiding the evaluator around the room. "We wouldn't want you to waste your time so let's finish the inspection." She shot another smile up at her elder.

Suddenly, the closet's door began to elicit raspy, scratching noises. There was a hollow silence that followed, before it was broken again by a groan that came from the closet door. Ritsu reflexively kicked the door and dashed to the dining table.

"Would you like some tea?" Ritsu offered, flashing a "salesperson" smile.

"What was that noise?" the lady asked with suspicion.

"I didn't hear anything," Mio said as if clueless. "Did you, Ritsu?"

"Nope. Nothing at all."

The closet door shot open and out sprung Sawako, gasping and taking heavy breaths. The other three who were occupying the room jumped in alarm.

"W-who's that woman?" the evaluator demanded, startled.

Mio and Ritsu exchanged dark glances, nodded, and then returned to their happy-go-lucky attitudes.

"Sawa-chan, so you were in there!" Ritsu exclaimed in genuine astonishment as she walked over to her. "You joker you!"

"Miss Inspector," Mio began, "this is our advisor—Sawako Yamanaka."

"Well, that was quite the entrance, Miss Yamanaka," the lady said, extending her hand for her to shake in greeting.

The teacher who had just escaped the closet eyed the evaluator up and down.

"Ritsu," she said, "ya weren kid'in when ya say she wuz uptigh. She hass da perfact figor!" She turned to the evaluator. "Say, haw wud ju lik too cosplay?"

"Excuse me….?"

"Don't mind her," Mio said, quickly scurrying the evaluator a safe distance away from Sawako. "Let's continue with the evaluation."

Before they could carry on, steps growing louder in volume rapidly approached the room and then the doors to the clubroom were mercilessly slammed open and two girls accessed the room, breathing heavily.

"H-hello…. I… I'm Hirasawa Yui," one of them said in between huffs. "Sorry for being late!"

"How… how do you do? I'm… Nakano Azusa," the other one introduced herself. "I also apologize for being tardy!"

"Keh… I mean, gosh, you two spent a _really _long time in the restroom," Ritsu commented, even though she herself had no idea what was going on.

"Hmm, you two strike me as oddly familiar," the evaluator said, squinting her eyes at the two that had just come in.

_No, more like, who are you? _Mio thought, but kept it to herself.

"Well, it doesn't matter," the evaluator continued. "If we have you five, then we're only missing one person—Kotobuki Tsumugi. Where is she?"

Everyone sought each other for help, but no one had any ideas.

"Well, by the looks on your faces, she's obviously not in the restroom," the evaluator concluded.

"We apologize but"—Mio took one last glance at everyone in the room before returning her gaze to the lady in charge—"she couldn't make it today. She's really dedicated to the club, though, so… please… don't shut us down."

The evaluator sighed. "I'm sorry but rules are rules. You stated in your application that five people were in this club, so five people I had to see, excluding your advisor."

The fake Azusa gulped and asked, "So does that mean…?"

"Yes, this club will be disbanded until further notice," she informed, pulling out a red pen and writing something down on the girls' application.

Sawako finally snapped out of her hangover and asked, "Is there any way for us to reform the club?"

"Not as of now," the lady responded. "Give it some time."

Ritsu smiled brightly and said, "Well, then, thank you for taking the time to check us out, Miss Evaluator ma'am."

The fake Yui jumped and quickly made her way to the door, holding it for the lady who was getting ready to leave. She told them, "I suggest you all find a new club to devote your time to," before she left, though.

It was two o'clock, only a couple of minutes after the departing of the evaluator.

Ritsu was sitting by the dining table with her head lowered, staring down at her reflection in the offered cup of tea that the evaluator had turned down. Sawako grabbed her white jacket and sauntered over to the door, later half-glancing back at the four girls whom had tried their best in keeping the club up and running.

"I'm also the wind instrument club's advisor, so I've got to head there right now," she said, but no one responded. She sighed. "If you guys ever feel like joining, just come and talk to me... I'll be there" was what she said before leaving.

"We're sorry, Mio-senpai, Ritsu-senpai," said the fake Azusa.

"Ah, don't worry about it…um…eto…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Suzuki Jun," she said, bowing. "I'm Azusa-chan's friend. She told me about your predicament, and I figured out I might try to help out."

"I-I belong to the student council and Mio-sama's fanclub," the other girl stuttered out. "My president, the same one for both clubs, told me to give you a hand."

_Azusa and Nodoka sent them, huh? _Mio thought, a little moved. "Thank you for coming to our aid."

"Well, for all that's worth, _I _thought your club was cool," the girl said.

"M-me, too!" Jun agreed.

Then, the two girls left. Now only Ritsu and Mio remained in the room, and though it was only two thirty in the afternoon, the skies were quickly darkening. Mio's eyes wandered around for a while before landing on Ritsu.

"Oi, we have to clean out all our stuff, this room's no longer ours," Mio said, but Ritsu remained unresponsive.

Mio sighed and approached her. "Hey, maybe this is for the better. Maybe… Mugi can join that choir club she initially wanted to join. Azusa could try out the jazz club and hang out with her friends. Yui can go back to doing nothing, which she used to enjoy so much. I could become part of the literature club or, heck, even my fanclub. And you… you could check out all kinds of clubs and settle for one."

"It won't be the same," Ritsu finally said, breaking her silence. "You won't be there. Or Azusa, or Yui, or Mugi, or even sawa-chan! We'll grow apart and I don't… want that."

"He he, you have a surprisingly soft side, Ritsu," Mio sneered.

"Yeah, I've been hanging around you a little too much," Ritsu snapped playfully, "and I'm not about to stop."

Ritsu rose from her chair, grabbed the teacup, threw its contents away, and set it in the sink. "We should pack things up. After all, this room's no longer ours… at least, not yet again it isn't."

Mio smiled sympathetically. "Right!"

"When we come back to school, let's check out other clubs," Ritsu suggested.

"Eh?" Mio adapted a befuddled expression. "I thought you wanted to revive _this _club."

"Oh, we will, Mio-chyan!" Ritsu cooed as she clung onto Mio, who began to blush. "Have patience. In the evaluator's words: 'give it some time.'"

_A very short time, _Ritsu thought knowingly.

And they began to clean out the clubroom of their things, thinking of how to break it to the other members later on.

-0- Thanks so much for reading! Please be sure to tell me what you think of the story so far, I'd really appreciate it!-0-


	4. Chapter 4

It was Saturday morning and a bored Ritsu was lethargically lying on the couch watching some television to pass the time. She was too lazy to prepare breakfast, since her muscles weren't fully awake and active just yet. She glanced at the clock that hung up the living room's wall. She sighed after seeing it was only 10:00 a.m. It was going to be a long day of doing absolutely nothing. Though, it wasn't like she was all that thrilled about going back to school either.

Moments later, Ritsu's younger brother came down the flight of stairs and stood at the bottom. He was dressed in casual street wear. Ritsu turned to him and inspected his clothing.

"Where are you going?" she asked after a while.

"We only have two more days before school," he began, "so my friends and I are going to meet up at the arcade. Will you tell mom and dad for me?"

"Yeah, sure," Ritsu said, dismissing him and returning her attention to the TV. "Have fun!"

He nodded and promptly left.

_Ah, youth…,_ Ritsu thought reminiscently. _Wait a minute! What the heck am I sitting here for? I'm young, too! _

She jumped off the couch and ran upstairs to get her cell phone. Once she arrived at her room, she flung her clothes and other miscellaneous things (such as last week's pudding) out of the way in order to find her small communication device. After locating it, she dialed a certain number.

"Hello?" A muffled, weary voice came from the other side of phone.

"Ah, Mio, is that you?" Ritsu asked.

"Let me see," she said, taking a pause. "This is my cell phone, so I'm guessing this is me."

"Ha ha, sorry, dumb question," Ritsu laughed.

"So… what is it?" Mio questioned, diving straight to the point. She was brushing her teeth at the moment and wanted to return to the bathroom as soon as possible.

"Oh, yeah, I just wanted to ask you out," Ritsu bluntly said.

Mio choked on her toothbrush and stuttered out a "W-what?"

"You know, I just wanted to see if you wanted to go out with me and stuff," Ritsu cryptically continued.

"W-why would I want to do that?" Mio asked over the phone, blushing a bit.

"Well, Golden Week is almost over and I wanted us to hang out later today," Ritsu clarified, and then quickly added, "if you were free."

"Oh," Mio breathed a sigh of relief. "Geez, learn how to word things correctly."

"Eh?" Ritsu was absolutely clueless as to what implications her previous sentences had incited.

"All right, I'll go out with you," Mio enigmatically responded. "What time do you want to meet up?"

Ritsu checked her phone real quick and then placed it back beside her ear. "Well, the TV said that there would be a festival near the shrine today. So how about we meet at the entrance in the next half hour?"

"T-that's too soon!" Mio rebutted.

Ritsu sighed and said, "Fine… we'llmeetinthenextthirty-oneminutes, see you there!" then she hung up.

… _It doesn't make a difference, _Mio thought dismally.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

Ritsu, waiting for Mio at the shrine entrance, was unable to keep still and hummed a lively tune to herself as she thought in sequence about all the things she and Mio would do together at the festival. She impatiently checked her watch and every now and then attempted to distinguish Mio from the passing crowds, to the point where she would occasionally get the wrong person. Finally, she appeared.

"Mio, over here!" Ritsu called out enthusiastically, jumping up and down to make herself more noticeable in the sea of people.

"You don't have to shout it out," Mio shyly muttered after she'd reached Ritsu. "I knew where you were."

Ritsu pulled out a folded paper from her pocket. "Here are all the events that'll take place today and tomorrow at the festival. We don't need to come tomorrow, though. It's basically the same thing, just in case people missed it the day before."

"Anywhere in particular that you'd like to go?" Mio queried.

"Yup," Ritsu said, nodding. She stepped closer to Mio and showed her the event and store schedule. "I want to go to this store and buy this special thumb pick for Azusa. It'll sort of be like a welcome-back-the-club-was-shut-down-don't-get-mad-at-me-here's-a-gift kind of thing."

"What? None for Yui?" Mio asked.

"Yui wouldn't get mad, so I don't need a present for her, right?" Ritsu said with a light-hearted tone.

"… I see, if that's all you want to do, then what the heck am I here for?" Mio questioned dryly, a glare ready to be launched.

"Well, I'm sort of short on money so I was hoping you'd lend me some," Ritsu divulged, scratching the back of her head. "I'll pay you back, though, promise!"

A vein popped out in Mio's temple. "I'm not your guinea pig, damn it!"

"We'll go wherever you want after we buy it," Ritsu assured. "I give you my word!"

"I'm already here, so I might as well go," Mio sighed.

Ritsu threw herself at Mio, hugged her (to the point of squeezing), and cheered, "Yay! Mio-chan, you're the best!"

"R-Ritsu, not in public!" Mio hissed with embarrassment.

Ritsu then whispered a husky "So it's alright if we're alone?" and promptly released her friend from her teasingly affectionate embrace.

"Mio, don't just stand there!" Ritsu called out, having already delved herself into the crowds of passing people. "Let's get a move on!"

Mio snapped herself out of her momentary daze and said, "C-coming!"

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

"I can't believe we're lost…," Mio incredulously thrummed.

Beside her, Ritsu was turning, detracting, and retracting the map and various ways in order to read it and figure out where they were. After a while, Ritsu grew tired and gave up, handing the map to Mio.

"Well, we might as well make the best of it, right?" Ritsu suggested.

"…I guess, since we still have half a day to find our way back," Mio figured, folding the map and stuffing it in her skirt pocket. "Where do you want to go?"

Ritsu took a look around the place to find anything of interest. The roads around the area were closed in order to avoid accidents, so there were a lot of people striding down the sidewalks, and many crossing from one street to the other. The place would be an unpleasantly cramped hell for claustrophobic individuals. Placing aside the need of enlarging the limited space offered to the people, the festival had some good sides, too. The stores and event areas were adorned with ornaments and lights that would be put to use once the sun was no longer available. Most kids ran around in colorful yukatas as the adults watched over them with content expressions.

"Hey, Ritsu, isn't that store over there the one you were looking for?" Mio pointed out, gaining Ritsu's attention.

Ritsu squinted and managed to see the sign of the store she'd been looking for. It was surprisingly prominent, so she wondered how she'd missed it.

"You're right! There it is!" Ritsu exclaimed, and then grabbed Mio's hand before pulling her down the street towards the store. "C'mon, let's go!"

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

Ritsu was holding a light brown paper back, and in it resided the ever-yearned thumb pick. Mio was waking beside her, though the two of them weren't heading anywhere in particular. Maybe hoping to come across the shrine entrance and relocate themselves before heading home.

"You know," Ritsu began with an ominous air about her, "this thumb pick comes with a story…"

"Wow…did we have to pay for that, too?" Mio grudgingly said. She was still mad about having to spend her money on a thumb pick to save Ritsu's cowardly butt.

"Aww, now, don't be sarcastic with me!" Ritsu cooed, amiably patting her back. "Well, as I was saying"—she switched back to the mysteriously dark tone she sustained before—"A story comes with this thumb pick. It was 25 years ago. This thumb pick belonged to the greatest rock star of all times... in Antarctica!"

"Why would a rock star live in Antarctica?" Mio skeptically questioned.

"I don't know! Maybe you'll find out if you listen to the rest!" Ritsu chastised. She cleared her throat and continued. "Well, during a dark, stormy night—"

"Shouldn't it be a _snowy _night?"

Ritsu paid her no heed. "—the rock star was playing one of his hit singles when suddenly—swoosh—he slipped and cracked his head open!"

Mio recoiled and turned to Ritsu, shivering. "I-i-is this one of those scary stories!?"

"Blood started gushing out like crazy!" Ritsu continued menacingly.

"Ugh! Ritsu, stop it!" Mio pleaded, bringing her hands up to cover her ears.

"When one week passed, they found his body in the igloo he lived in, along with the legendary thumb pick!" Ritsu was smirking now.

"I'm not listening!I'm not hearing this! I'm not listening to this at all!"

"They tried to get it off, but it wouldn't budge. So… they had to cut off his thumb to retrieve it!"

"IYAAH!!" Mio cried, and fell on her knees, trembling.

"Andnowit'sinourhands. The end," Ritsu concluded, satisfied.

Mio's muffled sniffles could be heard from the fetal position she'd now resorted to take in order to drive away the hideous mental images she'd visualized over Ritsu's dreadful story. Ritsu felt a pang of guilt strike her chest. She became aware of the people staring at them and gently walked Mio to the side of the street in hopes of not obstructing anyone's path. Once there, she squatted down beside her friend.

"Hey, um… y-you don't have to cry," Ritsu said, deviating her gaze from Mio's shaky figure. "It's not a true story, you know… I just made it up."

"Rea…really?" Mio asked in between sobs, finally adjusting Ritsu into her line of sight.

_Uwaah… _Ritsu thought as she marveled over Mio's tear-stained features. _Moe moe kyun~_

"R-Ritsu…?"

The girl in question was dragged back into reality. "Eh? Uh, yeah! Not true at all! Because what _really _happened was—"

"No, don't go on, seriously," Mio dully warned.

A considerable amount of people began to gather about a particular area of the festival's vicinity. Mio and Ritsu glanced at the crowd, stared at one another, nodded, and then marched off into the crowd's direction to join them out of curiosity.

"What do you think is going on over here?" Mio asked.

"Let's hurry to the front, and then we'll probably get some answers," Ritsu proposed, squirming through some large, sweaty people.

"Come, come, folks!" a short man in a suit who held a microphone advertised. "The Golden Week's eating contest is about to begin. The winner will get two front-row tickets to watch the most-anticipated concert of the ever-popular band _Treasured Dreams_ tonight at the festival's square plaza! Will you be the one to embark on such an experience? Well, you won't find out until you come on up!"

Mio gasped in awing contemplation of the two tickets the man held in the air. Ritsu didn't fail to notice her friend's quiet exclamation of delight.

"You know them, Mio?" Ritsu questioned.

"How come _you _don't!?" Mio queried in astonishment. "They're the best band that has ever played in Japan!"

"Well, I've never heard of them," Ritsu flatly expressed.

"Yeah? Well, you've never heard of World War II, either," Mio said.

"There was another one!?" Ritsu shouted, flabbergasted.

"See what I mean? It's no wonder you don't know about _Treasured Dreams_…," Mio sighed in aggravation.

"Well…aren't you going to participate in the eating contest?" Ritsu asked, and then subsequently smirked. "I bet you'll win easily~"

"Sh-shut up!" Mio sputtered out, a dangerous red creeping to her cheeks. "I'm not competing. I don't want all these people to see me stuffing myself. Do you know how embarrassing that would be!?"

"Hmm," Ritsu hummed, amused. She could tell that Mio was dying to go to her favorite band's concert, but was just too shy to participate in the contest. She figured she might as well do something nice for her childhood friend, since she paid for the thumb pick she couldn't cover.

"Right here, I'm up for it!" Ritsu loudly called out, attracting the attention of the announcer and the rest of the crowd.

"Well, then, come on up, young lady!" the announcer guy said enthusiastically.

"R-Ritsu… are you sure?" Mio catechized, her eyes showing genuine concern.

"No worries, no worries, I'll win those tickets for you easy," Ritsu said with brimming confidence, waving the ebony-haired girl's comment off. "Just watch me!"

As soon as the announcer collected another couple of willing contestants, the competition was ready to get under way. The competitors would have to eat their way through a full-course meal. There would be six courses offered—fruits, appetizers, soups, salads, main meals, and desserts. Almost every contestant gagged at the thought of having to consume all that; all except for Ritsu, who didn't have breakfast because she was too lazy to prepare it.

"Contestants, ready?"—everyone nodded with determination—"Then go!"

Every competitor had gotten a different fruit. Ritsu was given the easiest to consume—a mere cherry. She was disappointed, though.

The second course—the appetizer—consisted of caviar, miniature egg rolls, and stuffed clams. This time, everybody was given the same thing.

For the third course, everyone got distinguished types of soups. Again, Ritsu was given the one in the small bowl. By now, every contestant was grudgingly drinking their soup and muttering maledictions to Ritsu's great fortune; meanwhile Ritsu, in contrast to her opponents, cursed her tiny container because it wasn't enough to fill her up.

Three people had already given up by the time they accessed the fourth course, and jumped off the stage holding a bucket to their faces. Only five contestants remained and each devoured their meals vigorously, all set on winning the tickets.

When the fifth course arrived, two ran off the stage towards the restroom and another one passed out, face buried in his food. Now only Ritsu and another guy were left.

"G-go, Ritsu!" Mio cheered shyly, trying not to attract much attention by keeping her voice low but loud enough for Ritsu to hear.

The brunette was now almost at her limit while her rival finalist appeared to be doing just fine. As soon as the sixth course was placed on the table before her, she began to wince. She forced herself to pick up her fork and eat the chocolate cake she was given. She at least had to empty the plate before the other contestant. She filled her mouth up as fast as she could, not swallowing anything but attempting to clean her dish of food. The amount of cake was too excessive for her mouth to properly room, though, so soon she was obliged to swallow. In her mind, she was still eating, but for some reason she could no longer hear the cheers of the crowd.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

…_Ritsu?_

She could hear Mio's voice nearing her.

_Are you awake…? Ritsu?_

It was so beautifully surreal, resounding in her head so mystically.

"Ugh… what happened?" Ritsu groaned, slowly opening her eyes as she regained consciousness.

"Oh, good," Mio sighed in relief. She was sitting on a wooden chair beside her friend, who was lying on a bed dressed in white sheets. She was holding her hand.

The room was still somewhat blurry to Ritsu, though.

"Mio, is that really you?" Ritsu asked in a croaky voice, still in that cloudy place between wake and sleep. "Where am I?"

Mio chuckled. "Of course it's me. You're just a little out of it because you passed out during the eating contest. We're currently in the announcer's trailer. He allowed us to rest here until you woke up."

Ritsu brought her left arm over her heavy eyes and groaned again. "I'm sorry… I couldn't win."

Mio smiled, eyes filled with warm fondness. "But you _did_ win."

"… Come again?" Ritsu lowered her arm and stared at Mio directly with hopeful yet disbelieving eyes.

"You see," Mio began, "after you passed out, they were about to crown that other guy the winner. But then someone in the audience saw some lettuce sticking out of his shirt and brought it to attention. Apparently, he had been cheating the whole time. You know how fat he was? Well, it was because he was stuffing all the food in his shirt. So, after checking you out for hidden food, they crowned _you _the winner." Mio let go of Ritsu's hand and reached for her pocket, pulling out two rectangular pieces of paper. "We even got the tickets, see?"

"… No way!" Ritsu jumped out of the bed and pulled the tickets from Mio. She gazed at them adoringly. "Wait, what time is it!?"

Mio checked her watch. "Seven thirty p.m."

Ritsu skimmed through the ticket information. "The concert starts at eight! We still have time. Come on!"

She grabbed Mio's wrist and pulled her out of the trailer. As they rushed out, they caught a glimpse of the announcer and stopped to thank him for his hospitality. After that, the announcer sent them off on their way.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

"Uwah… I can't believe it," Mio exclaimed in awe, eyes glistening and hands clasped as she adoringly viewed the stage. "We're actually here. About to watch _Treasured Dreams _live. In the front row, even!"

Ritsu and Mio had gotten to the square plaza just before the doors were closed on them. The officers that guarded the entrance allowed them to pass and even escorted them through the VIP room and into the front row in order to avoid them getting lost in the masses.

"Oh, look, look, it's starting!" Mio excitedly whispered to Ritsu, since now the lights had dimmed and everyone in the audience had gone mute.

A group of four, two girls and two guys, suddenly appeared on stage after a puff of smoke exploded with the now flashing lights that signaled their arrival. Every female in the audience screamed as a crazed fangirl would—even Mio. The rocking mood in the square plaza incited Ritsu to yell her lungs out as well, even if she had no idea who she was cheering for.

**Tell me, at nighttime, do you think of me?**

**And tell me, at daylight, does my face appear?**

**Dreams are such queer, mysterious things**

**I believe that you know what I mean**

The vocalist and guitarist was one guy, while the other was the drummer. The other two girls were in charge of the bass and the keyboard. Every once in a while, the female bassist would switch with the guitarist and become the vocalist.

**Why, I always have nightmares **

**Of numerous subjects**

**But then you come along…**

**And I no longer fear being alone…**

The guitarist ran up to the front of the stage, taking the bassist along with him, and the both of them began strumming on their instruments before singing in unison—

**Show me this world of dreams!**

**It's something I've never seen!**

**Stay beside me and I'll be fine…**

**I can promise you that!**

Many people in the back began to shout _woot_'s and _I love you_'s to the band members, even the ones that had brought their significant others along. Ritsu grew tired of yelling after a while and stopped to steal a glance at Mio, who was apparently enjoying herself. She had never seen Mio so happy, and she was glad that she had been the one to put that beautiful smile on her face. Mio was even quietly singing along, for she knew all the lyrics. Ritsu returned her gaze to the stage, and focused on the drummer. He put _her _drumming skills to shame.

The male vocalist took a hold of the microphone once again and began to sing.

**I want to experience the unknown!**

**So lucid dreaming is not a choice!**

**I want to get away!**

**So I don't want to be awake!**

It was time for the keyboardist's solo and she hit the keys of her instrument so fast and dexterously that Ritsu began to get dizzy, wondering how Tsumugi handled the thing in such a way that it seemed simple enough to spectators. Right then, the unthinkable occurred. The male vocalist dashed through the runway, amiably slapping some fangirls' hands on the way, and came to a halt when he reached Mio's hand. He firmly held onto her hand.

"Come on up," he said to her, flashing a smile that was to die for.

"… Wh-wh-what!?" Mio's head was spinning; she couldn't believe the lead singer of the band was actually inviting her to join them. "I… I… Ritsu!?" She turned her to her childhood friend, seeking aid and advice.

Ritsu was overcome with the urge of screaming "No!" She knew, though, that Mio would never again attain a chance to stand so closely by her role model's side on stage.

"Ritsu—?"

"Go!" Ritsu said, pushing her friend closer to the hunky guitarist's strong grip.

"But—"

"Just go, Mio!" Ritsu encouraged, trying her best to sound convincing and hide her true feelings over the situation. She smiled weakly. "I'll be waiting for you."

The guitarist pulled her up and with her returned to the main stage to join the rest of the band. Mio glanced back at Ritsu only once, before turning to the guitarist and smiling in a reserved manner.

"We're going to sing now, cutie," he informed, gently handing her a microphone.

"W-w-what!?" Mio shouted. "I-I-I can't. I honestly can't!"

The keyboardist's solo was nearing its end, and everyone could see Mio and the guitarist on a giant, flat screen hung up above the stage for the audience members that stood farther in the back and had a hard time viewing the concert.

"Are you ready?" he asked, pulling her close to him by the waist.

"N-no, please, I—"

"Now!"

**Show me the stars that roam the galaxy!**

Mio automatically yet involuntarily began to sing into the microphone. She was a nervous wreck, but tried her best to put on a decent performance for the people that had come to see their beloved band. She wouldn't want to be the one to ruin such a thrilling event. She decided that she would pretend she was singing along Yui (who was also a guitarist) in order to calm herself down.

**Let's meet in a dream and take off from there!**

**Illusions of the mind don't require a plot!**

**Let's make up our story as we go!**

**Isn't that what we do in everyday life? **

Ritsu was overwhelmed by the sight of Mio and the male vocalist singing perfectly in sync. Every now and then throughout the song they had to complete each other's sentences, and they even pulled that off without a flaw. Mio looked so elegant with a man by her side. Ritsu began to picture herself beside Mio, and for some reason, it didn't look quite right.

**Plans and fortunes can be ruined**

**But our dreams will always last!**

**So let's embark on a journey**

**Only you and I! **

A hollow emptiness began to expand in Ritsu's chest, and everything that took place on stage seemed to play out in slow motion. The sea of faces was becoming slightly blurred in her line of sight, and she began to feel lightheaded as the audience inched closer to the runway to catch a glimpse of the guitarist and Mio, rudely pushing her out of the way. Soon, she found herself to be at the festival's square plaza, heaving left the concert and Mio.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

The two girls had some trouble finding the shrine in which they met up earlier that day, but now only Ritsu stood at the shrine entrance, her back against one of its wooden legs. It turned out that the shrine wasn't far from where they'd originally gotten lost, though it didn't matter now. Ritsu was eating away some cotton candy she had bought at one of the festival's stands as she hurried out of the concert. She held the bag which contained the thumb pick in her other hand. Nightfall had already replaced daylight and she was planning to head home soon. She turned her gaze to the right and an obscure silhouette slowly approached her, soon revealing itself to be a pissed Mio.

Ritsu was hit by realization. "C-cwud! Sowwy, Mio, I fwogoh!" She still had some cotton candy stuffed in her mouth.

"Let me teach you how to properly apologize to someone after I make you swallow that with my fist!" Mio growled, dangerously stepping closer to Ritsu.

Ritsu forcefully gulped the sweet down. "M-Mio, I swear it wasn't on purpose, I just—"

"I was looking for you…," Mio said, her tone of voice having grown low in volume. "After the concert ended, I went to look for you, but you weren't where you said you'd be."

"Well, you see, what happened was…"

"And you promised, you liar!" Mio snapped, tears beginning to blur her vision. "I thought you left me and went home… stupid Ritsu…"

Ritsu wore a sympathetic smile. "My bad, Mio-chan. I don't know what came over me then that I left. It won't happen again." She patted her sensitive friend's head. "So, how about we head home now?"—she unfurled her hand and reached out for Mio—"I'm sure your parents wouldn't want me to keep you out all night. They always thought I was a bad influence anyway, ha ha!"

Mio smiled and nodded, taking Ritsu's hand and intertwining her fingers with her friend's. "Yeah, let's go!"

The two left the festival and headed home, only a fifteen-minute walk away.

"Say, Ritsu," Mio began as they sauntered down the street. "Why did you leave?"

Ritsu flinched, but quickly recovered. "Well, uh, I just thought that you might have wanted to spend some time with that guitar guy, you know?"

"That's it?"

"Yeah. That's mostly it."

"Well, he _did _invite me to the concert's after-party," Mio informed playfully.

"Eh!? Why didn't you go!?"

Mio turned away abashedly."Because… I came to this festival to spend time with you…"

Ritsu pressed onto Mio's hand a little tighter in reaction. She immediately stopped after realizing what she was doing and hoped Mio hadn't noticed. "Ha ha, I'm sort of glad you didn't go. If you did, I would have probably had to drag you back to your house and your parents would blame me for getting you drunk!"

"Y-y-you know I don't drink, idiot! Take that back!"

And Mio mercilessly punched the living daylights out of Ritsu.

- o - o - This chapter was sort of long. I hope it wasn't a pain to read. I'll keep chapters short if you guys don't like it. Please tell me what you think by reviewing. You'll make a fellow human being happy :D - o - o -


	5. Chapter 5

"Good morning, everyone!" Azusa greeted as she slid the door to the clubroom open.

Mio, who was setting down a heavy box near the table, welcomed her. "Oh, good morning, Azusa."

Azusa performed a quick scan of the entire room. Yui was attempting to lift some heavy boxes, much like the one Mio was just recently carrying. Tsumugi was cleaning out the stand where cups, plates, and other fancy tableware used to reside. Ritsu was part-by-part packing away her drumming set into a large, black bag, generating loud noises from the metallic plates as she did so.

"Um, Mio-senpai, what's going on?" Azusa questioned, removing the guitar she carried from her shoulder.

Mio glanced back at the other band members, as if seeking their consent before revealing to Azusa the reason behind their actions. Everyone nodded with a sympathetic smile.

"Well, you see, Azusa," she said, taking a pause, "the club's been disbanded."

"What did Ritsu-senpai do?"

"Hey! Don't just assume it's all my fault like that!" Ritsu hollered from somewhere the back.

Mio laughed. "I guess, in a way, we're all to blame for this one."

"The evaluation didn't go well?"

"Oh, it did, the only problem was that we were missing one person," Mio informed.

"That was it!? But I thought I—"

"—had asked Jun to come?" Mio finished, completing her sentence.

Azusa shrunk in embarrassment. "She… she told you it was me?"

"We all believe in giving credit where credit is due, right, Azusa?" Mio said with a smile.

Azusa nodded, still blushing a significant red. Mio draped her arm around her. "Don't worry. Our president said she was going to get our club back"—she turned to Ritsu with cold, dreary eyes that meant business—"Isn't that right, Miss President?"

"Eh? Uh, yeah, of course!" Ritsu reassured nervously. "I have a plan."

Azusa glanced at her elder. "We're doomed…" she finally said, before seeking comfort in between Mio's arms again.

"O-oi, have some faith in me!" Ritsu demanded.

She hadn't meant anything offensive, but it seemed as if the air between her and Azusa suddenly shifted. The underclassman's eyes became vicious, and she snapped herself away from the ebony-haired girl. "Faith…? Faith!? Our club is practically dead! When's the next evaluation, huh? Next year, right? Well, who knows if you'll all be here next year!"

"A-Azusa, calm down," Ritsu pleaded, shaking her hands up and down to no avail.

"I don't want to calm down!"

"L-look!" Ritsu plunged a hand into her pocket and just as fast pulled out a bright, small thumb pick. "I-I got you a present!"

Mio shook her head helplessly.

Azusa's eye twitched and just as she was about to launch at Ritsu, on whom she would soon discharge her anger upon, Yui came and pulled her into a tight embrace from the waist.

"There, there, Azu-nyan," Yui said, petting the tiny girl's head.

"Lemme at her!" Azusa roared, but eventually her tensed muscles loosened and she promptly gave in to the warm hug.

_How does she do that? _Mio wondered as she incredulously contemplated the sight of Yui and Azusa in a bundle.

"Everyone, Azusa-chan doesn't appear to be feeling well," Tsumugi commented as she finished placing the remaining dishes into a hollow box.

Yui looked leaned down the side to peek at Azusa's face, and it appeared to have been suspended. "Hmm, I think she's gone into shock…"

"I guess the news must have been a little too strong for her," Ritsu shrugged.

"Should we take her to the nurse's office?" Tsumugi suggested.

"Oh, oh, I'll do it!" Yui offered, raising her hand. "I'll take her!"

"The offer's still up, so give this to her once she comes to," Ritsu said, stepping closer to Yui and handing her the thumb pick meant for Azusa as a gift.

"Sure!"

"But you have to go to class, Yui, just like the rest of us," Mio reminded. "Won't you be late and counted absent? It'll hurt your record."

Yui winked at Mio in reassurance as she dragged the Azusa's limp body out the door and to the nurse's office. "Don't worry, everyone. I'll take care of it."

And just like that, she was gone.

"Now," Mio breathed, returning to the task at hand, "where are all these boxes going to go?"

Ritsu responded, "Oh, they're staying here—"

"Then what the heck was the point in packing them up!?" the black-haired girl demanded.

Ritsu cleared her throat with authority. "Let me finish. They're staying here until we find our new clubroom."

"But, Ricchan, the only way to obtain a new clubroom is by joining another club, isn't that correct?" Tsumugi voiced

"Exactly!" Ritsu cheered. "Here's today's activity for the Light Music Club: find a new club for us to join!"

"Just hold on a minute—are you giving up on the Light Music Club?" Mio skeptically questioned. "Didn't you say you were going to get it back?"

"Oh, I will, I will," Ritsu assured, waving it off. "First, though, we need to remain on the down-low. We have to find another club to join. Once we're in, we'll take over it and perform regular Light Music Club activities! We'll sort of be undercover, if you know what I mean."

"How's that supposed to help us get out club back?" Mio asked.

There was a pause. "I'm working on it," Ritsu sheepishly replied.

"So it's a make-it-up-as-we-go kind of plan, Ricchan?" Tsumugi queried.

"Yup!"

"Then okay," Tsumugi consented, clapping her hands together.

_She's actually fine with this! _Mio thought, horrified. _I can't believe it; she's actually going along with this! _

"Listen up! Since it's the start of the semester, and we get many transfer students at this time, I'm sure the school will let us have some time in between classes to check out clubs. At least for today, considering it's the first day," Ritsu explained, pacing around the room as a military general laying out a plan of survival. "Well, I'm going to give you a piece of paper that lists all the clubs you have to check out before this day is over! You'll have to take on some more clubs that were directed at Azusa and Yui, though, since they're at the infirmary. Get it? Got it? Good! Here are your assigned clubs."

With that, Ritsu handed both Mio and Tsumugi their respective lists and walked out of the room with a "See you guys later!"

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

"How are you feeling, Azu-nyan?" Yui queried tenderly at the girl that was slowly crawling her way back into consciousness.

Azusa lethargically raised herself up to a sitting position. She scanned her surroundings with her perceptive eyes, and immediately identified the place to be the infirmary. She noticed through a slip in the white curtains that the nurse wasn't at her usual spot.

"Oh, are you wondering where the nurse is?" Yui questioned with a smile, leaning closer to Azusa. "Don't worry, she's just out to get some breakfast, and left you in my care!"

"Breakfast?" Azusa allowed some time for the full meaning of the work to sink in. "Oh, no, what time is it!? Has school started already!? Shouldn't you and I be in class!?"

"Calm down, Azu-nyan," Yui reassured, patting her kouhai on the head lightly. "We both got permission from our teachers to have our absences excused."

"Oh… Well, it's nice that you stayed behind to look after me, Yui-senpai," Azusa admitted abashedly, her cheeks slightly reddening.

"What can I say?" Yui replied sheepishly. "All for the greater good, right?"

"Or all to get away from class," the youngest of the two joked, followed by a polite chuckle.

"… He he, I-I know, right?" Yui responded without much spirit, averting her gaze and holding an awkward smile.

At seeing her Senpai's reaction to her comment, Azusa stumbled upon realization.

"You _did _do it just to ditch class, didn't you!?" she shouted.

A beeping sound suddenly flared up to break up the tense mood that had gathered about the two.

Yui took advantage of this turn out of events and quickly stood to change the topic. "O-oh, looks like the chamomile tea is ready!"

With that, she hastily rose to her feet and scrambled out of Azusa's sight before the girl had a chance to stop her.

Azusa sighed dejectedly, knowing would be useless to try and call out to Yui now, since she was out of earshot. Her eyes roved around the place to inspect it, and it wasn't really a room. Just a piece of the ground floor of the entire nursing room set apart by an enclosure of white curtains. She figured that there were more of this cubicle-like things besides hers, for the other sickly students.

She turned to her right, where Yui was previously sitting at, and felt a bit empty.

_So she's only here with me so that she can skip out on class? Figures, _Azusa thought sadly.

Awareness suddenly returning to her vision, she spotted her Senpai's guitar leaning rigidly on the only wall there was, which was right by the backrest of the nurse bed.

She scrutinized the instrument and saw a peculiar thumb pick balancing itself on the rims. She stepped out of bed and grabbed the guitar, placing it in a more comfortable holding position on her lap. She decided she'd test out this new thumb pick of Yui's.

Just as she was about to play the a song, Yui walked in with a tray and some tea cups on it.

"I'm back, Azu—_gasp_!" Yui's expression was one of pure horror and dread when she caught Azusa holding Gitah on her lap.

Azusa was started by the weird sound Yui made, so she halted what she was doing and turned her attention over to her senior. "Y-yui-senpai, what's wrong!?"

Yui's hands trembled, making the tray's contents clatter ominously, and a lone tear trailed down her cheek, leaving a wet track behind. "I… I'm gone for a few minutes and I come in only to find Gitah in the arms of another woman!"

Azusa's eyes widened and she realized her mistake. "N-no! Yui-senpai, this is not what it looks like! I was just—!"

_Wait a minute… Why do I feel the need to explain myself to her? _

"Yui-senpai, this is an inanimate object," she deadpanned, holding the guitar up.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

The bell tolled, signaling the beginning of the 30-minute breaks in between classes, and the initiation of her mission.

A mission only she could accomplish—to find the best clubroom that would accommodate the light music club!

Well, if you counted Mio and Tsumugi, she wasn't really alone. But they were not very dependable. They'd probably pick a sissy or super tiny club, so it was up to her.

_I've got to find a club that practically screams "Awesome!" _Ritsu mused, sporting her thinking pose in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh my gosh, Tainaka is _thinking_," girl A said in mock shock.

"Are you serious!?" girl B expressed, feigning alarm.

"We've got to stop her before she hurts herself!" girl C said in mock urgency.

Ritsu glared daggers at the trio and, hadn't it been for the clubroom situated beyond the girls that caught her interest, they would have ended up in the nearby janitor's closet courtesy of the subject of derision herself.

She ran past her classmates, ignoring them, and veered to a halt before the door, which beside it displayed the clubroom number.

_666, _Ritsu read in hear head. _I bet this is the kind of badass club I'm looking for!_

She inwardly cheered and accessed the room without knocking.

"Welcome to the Tea Ceremony Club!"

Ritsu backtracked her steps and instantly closed the door. It was almost like a rewind of her actions while entering the room.

Once out, she pulled the list of clubs to check out from her pocket and crossed out the Tea Ceremony club multiple times before resuming her quest of finding the best club for the light music club.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

Meanwhile…

_Hmm, _Mio scanned her list of clubs to check out before the end of the school day and pondered over which one to go see first. _I should probably go to the Robotics club, since it's the one closest to where I'm standing. Or maybe I should head out to the Kendo club, while the weather is nice. But the one I really want to visit is the Literature club… I never thought it would be this difficult to figure out which one to go to. _

"Hey, it's you!" a girl's voice rang out in Mio's ears, and she promptly looked up to meet the owner of the voice.

"Hello…?" Mio greeted, trailing off since she couldn't recall the countenance of the girl she was currently addressing.

The girl with blonde curls and green eyes smiled widely. "You looked just as confused two years ago!"

Mio blushed. She felt a pang of guilt, since this girl seemed to know her, while she had no idea who she was. She decided she'd just come out with it and admit that she didn't remember her. "I'm sorry, I don't really recall who you are…"

The girl's eyes widened in surprise, but they soon softened. "Ah, don't worry, we only met once, as first years. So it's no surprise you don't remember me."

_As first years? _"Oh" was all Mio could say.

"Two years ago, we were both new here. I suggested that you join the Literature club and gave you an application, remember?"

Mio's mind searched for visual on that particular meeting they both supposedly had. When the film played before her eyes, Mio was hit by realization.

"It's you!" she exclaimed excitedly, finally recognizing the girl.

"Yeah," the girl said, smiling. "Glad to see you finally know who I am. I never told you my name, though, did I? Well, it's Rosewill Stephanie."

_A western name? _"I don't think I told you my name back then, either. I'm Akiyama Mio."

The ebony-haired girl stuck out her hand, and the blonde shook it amiably.

"So, I'm guessing you joined the Literature club?" the blonde asked.

Mio blushed. "Well, some things came up, and I couldn't. But I'm sure you did?"

The blonde shook her head. "I moved to America, so I couldn't, either."

Mio looked surprised. "So now you've moved back?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yes, and now I'm planning to join the Literature club… again."

"You want to go check it out together?" Mio offered sheepishly.

The other girl's eyes brightened. "Sure!"

And the two walked into the Literature clubroom together. As they did, Mio crossed out the Literature club in her clubs-to-check-out list, and stuffed it in her pocket.

~\o/~\o/~\o/

Tsumugi gracefully sauntered past many clubrooms, seaching for one that piqued her interest, but none seemed to attract the ojou-sama's attention. She noticed long before classes began, that all the clubs she had to examine were conveniently on the left wing of the school building, so she thought that good fortune was on her side, since she wouldn't have to travel far.

Now, all she needed to do was find which club to inspect first.

As she ambled down the hall, she noticed a clubroom with a number that sparked something in the back of her mind.

_777_, she read in her mind. _My, that appears to be a very promising number, indeed. _

She knocked on the door, and when the individual that opened said door noted her presence, she was pulled into the room by force, the door closing behind her.

"Welcome to the DareDevils Club!" the girl that opened the door greeted, her vice booming and bouncing off the walls, startling poor Tsumugi.

"I… I'm very glad to be here," Tsumugi greeted in return, not wanting to be impolite by remaining quiet.

"Speak up, girl! Us, DareDevils, are too far gone to hear words spoken in low volumes, way below the earth and underneath the clashing waters, which block out your angelic sound! The heavens have disposed of us but yet have blessed us with fearless hearts to take on the world's atrocities and challenges…"

"Um... Um…" Tsumugi was uncertain of when to speak, since the girl, whom she now presumed to be the president of the club, kept droning out her lengthy monologue with passion and fire in her eyes.

Now she _really _couldn't find it in her heart to interrupt the girl. At this, she sighed. Another member of the club did not allow for that sigh to go by ignored.

"Miss. President, ma'am!" she called to attention, interrupting her fearless leader.

"What is it, Momoko? Can't you see I'm in the middle of a speech right now?" the president whined.

"Yes, Miss. President, ma'am, I can see that!" Momoko said in a military-like fashion. "But at some point in your awesome speech, you seemed to have forgotten about our guest!"

"Oh, how rude of me!" the president looked completely appalled at her own actions. She turned to Tsumugi and had the expression of a kicked puppy. "I, the guide of the DareDevils, feel the need to apologize to you, my honorable guest! Please don't be mad at us, it is, after all, because of our behavior that HE"—she pointed towards the ceiling melodramatically—"rejected us, DareDevils!"

"I think our guest wants to hear more about our club activities!" another club member piped up.

"Is that so?" The president quickly composed herself and pondered over what to say first. "Well, our club does many cool things. While at school, we take on many different challenges. We try to beat the highest scores from our grade classmates. We take on the school's seven mysteries and find out whether they're fake or not. And for field trips, we go to exotic places like Paris or New York and bungee jump off the Eiffel tower and the Statue of Liberty."

"Remember that time we got arrested for doing that?" Momoko laughed, recalling the event.

"Oh, yeah, and we were shipped back to Japan ASAP!" another club member joined in, laughing.

"Good times, good times," the leader said reminiscently. "Our next trip will be to the Great Wall of—huh? Where did she go?"

Tsumugi, now rushing back up the hallway, pulled out her pen and list of clubs-to-check-out to cross out the DareDevils club.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

The first in-between classes break was over, and so the students headed to their respective second period rooms.

The tension that had wrapped around Yui, Azusa, and Gitah finally cleared up when the twin-tailed first-year explained that she wasn't planning on doing anything with Gitah other than playing a song. Yui sighed in relief, glad that Gitah wasn't cheating on her or something, which came off to Azusa as a little odd, if not stark crazy.

The nurse had returned a while ago, but left again to deliver some papers to the principal of the school. There was a rumor that the (male) principal and her had something going on, but most of the girls thought that love between adults wasn't very cute and so they dismissed the idea.

Yui, now seated beside her kouhai and having earlier received permission from the nurse to use her laptop, opened the said item and began to generate small, clicking noises every now and then as she typed.

Meanwhile, Azusa tried to recall why she was in the infirmary in the first place. After all, didn't really feel sick or anything, so why was she in bed?

Before she could pry further into her memory, though, Yui's voice piped up.

"Say, Azu-nyan, strawberries and whipped cream or chocolate?"

Azusa turned to her with a questioning glance. "Strawberry and whipped cream, I guess. Why?"

Yui smiled. "Oh, nothing, it's just this small online quiz."

"Oh" was all Azusa said in acknowledgement.

"Top or bottom?" Yui resumed.

Azusa lifted an eyebrow with suspicion but answered either way. "Um, I'll go with top."

"Soft or hard?" Yui continued.

Azusa was completely on guard now. "… Hard… I suppose?"

"Wet and sloppy or nice and neat?"

"Okay, that's it," Azusa snapped, moving closer to Yui so that she could see the screen. "What am I being tested on?"

Yui made some space for the leaning Azusa to accommodate herself in, and allowed her to eye the screen. "It's a _How Do You Like Your Ice Cream Served? _quiz."

Azusa immediately blushed and felt greatly ashamed for the ridiculous insinuations she had been making given the potential underlying meanings of the questions. "O-oh…"

"What did you think you were being tested on Azu-nyan?" Yui queried naively.

Azusa averted her gaze from Yui's and replied, "I-it doesn't matter now…" She composed herself before returning to her Senpai. "So, what's my result?"

"Well, you still have to answer the last question," Yui reminded.

"Hmm, I guess wet and sloppy," Azusa responded, a finger to her chin.

"Got it," Yui said, and clicked on the last answer. "Well, it says here that you like it hard, with strawberries and whipped to lick across. You start from top and work your way to the bottom, where it's wet and sloppy."

Azusa swallowed. Hard. "With _it _… being the ice cream… right?"

"Yes, the ice cream."

Even the quiz result was wrong on so many levels.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

It was now lunch, which for some students would be used as the second in-between classes break to visit clubs.

Ritsu, now set on never judging a club by its number, would head for the theatre club. She had given it a great deal of thought while in class. The clubroom would need to be spacious, have a stage, be prone to echoing, and have props and costumes. What better choice than the theatre clubroom?

Ritsu, satisfied with her selection, skipped out of her second period class bubbling with excitement and made her way to the theatre room.

Once there, the first thing came into her line of sight was a first-year girl falling flat on her face.

_Ouch,_ Ritsu thought, inwardly cringing.

"No, no, you're doing wrong!" a second-years scolded, now towering over the fallen girl on stage. "You're supposed to make it look real! People don't come to our school to see cheap acting. We've got a reputation to keep!"

"But… I actually did fall for real," the girl revealed, sniffing.

The second-year's eyes widened in realization. "Oh… so you really fell?"

The first-year nodded.

"Oh… well, don't actually fall next time. Just fake fall, but make it look real…?" the senior advised, though not entirely convinced by her own comments either. If acting was supposed to look real, than what better than the real thing, right? But she didn't want the girl to hurt herself so…

What a dilemma.

"Yo!" Ritsu greeted, inviting herself in discreetly.

The reproaching student followed the voice to its origin. "Ah, Tainaka-senpai! How very nice to see you here!"

"Ritsu's fine," the girl with the tight headband assured, waving her hand dismissively. "How are things going over here, Rekuza?"

"They're going really well, Ritsu-senpai," the girl, now identified as Rekuza, replied. She then turned to contemplate the first-years being coached by their seniors. "At the moment, we're in the process of recruiting some first-years into the Theatre club. Of course, only the ones whom we think have undoubted potential."

"Hmm," Ritsu hummed in acknowledgement. "So, have you come across any good ones yet?"

The second-year shook her head dismally. "Not yet we haven't." She tried to disguise the disappointment in her tone and switched the subject. "So, what brings you here, Ritsu-senpai? Don't you have your own club to recruit for?"

Ritsu inwardly began to sweat. She scratched the side of her cheek nervously and with a sheepish grin replied, "Yeah, well, about my club… we sort of got shut down."

"YOU GOT WHAT!?" The second-year immediately covered her mouth with her hands and looked at the ground with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, years in the Theatre Club really turn people like me into Drama Queens…"

"Yeah, I don't blame, you" Ritsu said, now unplugging her ears, which were covered by her fingers. "Nice overreaction, though."

"Thanks," the other girl said abashedly, her voice taking on a lighter if not guiltier tone. "Why were you shut down, Senpai?"

"The evaluation didn't go well," Ritsu casually replied.

"Oh," the girl said. She really didn't feel like prying, since it would probably come off as insensitive to her senior. "Well, there's always a slot open in our club for you, Senpai."

Ritsu grinned cheekily, and the girl blushed. "Thanks! I'll be sure to give your offer some thought later on."

The girl nodded; glad that her Senpai would at least consider it. "Would you like to try out your acting skills? It's part of the recruitment process, but for you, it'll only be for fun."

"So I'm going to be falling on my face, too, now?" Ritsu questioned with sly humor. "Sure! Why not?"

"Great!" the girl practically cheered. "We're changing the tactic, now. We've already done the side fall, the back fall, and the front fall. The only fall we've left to perform is the shared fall."

"The shared fall?"

"Yes," the girl began enthusiastically. "It requires two people to do it. So the students will have to work with partners, and this will show us how well they team work." The girl paused, looked up at Ritsu with expectant eyes, and spoke again. "Ritsu-senpai, w-would you care to be my partner for this performance?"

Ritsu, being as dense as she was, simply nodded in consent. "Sure, just tell me, how does it work?"

Rekuza wanted to squeal giddily, but instead she remained composed and continued to explain. "The shared fall requires two people, the attacker and the victim. The attacker pushes the victim to the floor and falls on either the top or side of them. We have a mattress in our possession, so we'll take the top landing for the attacker. Which one would you like to be, Ritsu-senpai?"

"Hmm, either one is fine, but I guess I wouldn't like to be roughly pushed down on bed, so I'll be the attacker!" Ritsu reasoned, nodding to herself.

The girl blushed." T-then, I suppose I'll be the victim… Ritsu-senpai, please be gentle."

Ritsu quirked an eyebrow, she didn't really get what meant. "Um… will do?"

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

Mio and her newfound friend ambled down the hallway, telling each other how they spent the last two years since their meeting. Stephanie was impressed at hearing that Mio was a bass-player, and Mio returned the expression when she heard that Stephanie, besides being a gifted advocate for the debate club back at her old school, was also a great singer.

"I'm the vocalist at my club's band," Mio shared.

"Really? How nice for you! I love singing!" Stephanie said. " Apparently, I could be a great lawyer, with this quick mouth of mine, but I really don't like arguing. I'm just cursed with this ability to find the faults in what people say."

"I think that's a nice ability to have," Mio confessed. "I'm sometimes shy, so I can't express my thoughts on things very often. I end up doing things I don't want to do."

_Like cosplaying, _Mio thought, shivering at the thought.

"But a bass player? I can't read music, so I think that's pretty awesome," Stephanie admitted. "You'll play a song for me sometimes, won't you?"

"Sure, you call it," Mio agreed with a smile before pulling out her clubs-to-check-out list again.

"What's that?" Stephanie questioned, scrutinizing the object.

"Oh, my friend Ritsu wants me to help her in the search of clubs that could replace ours," Mio informed. "Since ours got shut down."

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"It's fine, it's fine!" Mio reassured, not meaning to depress her friend. "Ritsu told me she'd find a way to get it back, and I trust her."

Stephanie smiled. "You two are great friends, huh?"

Mio's countenance glowed crimson and she shied away. "I-I guess you could say that…"

Mio cleared her throat and straightened herself out. "Anyhow, my list says that I should head for the theatre clubroom next."

"The theatre room? The one in the right wing?"

Mio nodded, turning to the blonde.

"Oh, I wish I could accompany you, but it appears that it'll be impossible. My next class is in the left wing, and since I'm not very familiar with the school, I'll need some time to locate my classroom. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'll just see you around," Mio said.

The other girl smiled. "I hope so. Until next time, Akiyama-san!"

Mio waved as the girl strode past her and headed the other way. Mio stretched and then searched for the theatre clubroom's door. When she found it, she knocked, and didn't wait to be let in before accessing the room.

"Excuse me, I'm here to—"

There was a mattress.

There was a girl lying on the mattress.

And there was Ritsu hovering on top of the girl lying on the mattress.

Mio froze on the spot. Her fists clenched at her sides, and her expression dark and unreadable.

The audience the two girls on the mattress had gathered turned to the newcomer, and Ritsu, curious as she was, followed their gazes to a rigid Mio standing by the door.

Mio raised her head and her piercing eyes met with Ritsu's, and she looked pissed.

"Sorry for interrupting," Mio spat angrily before turning and stepping out of the room, her black hair swishing behind her.

Ritsu immediately stood up and left Rekuza with a rushed "Later!" and scrambled out the door to catch up with Mio, who wasn't giving off very pleasant vibes before she left.

~\o/~\o/~\o/~

"Oi, Miooooo!" Ritsu's voice echoed in the hall, so the girl in question couldn't ignore its presence.

When the ebony-haired beauty stopped in her tracks, she furiously scratched out the theatre club from her list as she waited for Ritsu to catch up with her.

While Ritsu tried to regain her breath, she commented, "Wow, you walk fast!"

Mio didn't respond, only turned to her and placed her arms akimbo as if to say, "What do you want?"

Ritsu, startled by this unexpectedly moody Mio, whom she hadn't met since the time she broke her friend's most precious item, decided to play it safe and continued conversationally, "What were you doing at the Theatre club?"

Mio held out the piece of paper Ritsu had given her earlier in the morning. "It's on your list," Mio responded coldly.

Ritsu knew something had clearly set her friend off, so chose this time to pry a bit, "Why do you look so mad?"

"I'm not mad."

"Well, you certainly sound mad."

"I'm not mad," Mio insisted.

"Okay, whatever you say," the brunette said, not convinced. "So, then, is it because it looked like I was slacking off at the Theatre room? Being on bed and seemingly fooling around with Rekuza?"

Mio felt her blood boil at the mention of that name. They were on a first-name basis? And what did Ritsu mean by _fooling around_? Certainly just the "hanging around" it had for a definition, right? Mio was mad at herself now. She sounded like a... a... a jealous girlfriend! Girl... friend. A girl who was a friend. A jealous girl who was a friend. Yeah, that was it. She just felt a bit lonely after seeing Ritsu with another girl, since she was supposed to be the drummer's best friend. That's why she had this weird feeling in her chest! That had to be it. What other explanation could there be? She just needed to know one thing right now.

"I-it's not because of that…" Mio said, her voice quivering a tad.

Ritsu lifted a brow. "Then what was it? Oh, was it because we both sort of got the same club to check out? If that's it, then I'm sorry. I mean, I thought my lists had different clubs on them, I even double-checked so that they wouldn't repea—"

Mio shook her head, indicating that wasn't the reason, either. Ritsu now really had run out of potential causes.

Mio fiddled with her skirt uneasily and finally lifted her gaze to face Mio with eyes that had many emotions swirling within them: confusion, lividness, anger, betrayal, and… hurt? "I just… what were you and her—?"

"Welcome to the Family Club!"

Ritsu wanted to punch whoever just cut Mio's much anticipated response to her question. Though, with Mio being there and everything, she figured she'd only get scolded or another punch in return but from Mio's end, another form of punishment.

"Are we having friendship troubles?" the girl cooed, looking oddly excited for someone's who's supposed to sound worried given the nature of the question. "That's what the Family Club is here for! To build stronger bonds between friends and family!"

Ritsu began awkwardly, "Uh, we don't really need—"

"Nonsense!" the girl immediately intervened. "Come, come, let's not waste time!"

Mio was the one that tried to speak up this time. "But we—whoa!"

The two were forcefully pulled into the girl's cluboom by the arms and the door closed ominously behind them.

* * *

Yup, finally brought myself to finish this chapter. I wasn't kidding when I said I had already begun to write it out. It's just that I only had one page done :S. Your reviews are what really made me push myself though, so hopefully you won't give up on this story. I would really appreciate some feedback, everyone! Thanks!


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